Young Comfort
by Chelse30
Summary: Snow White's mother has passed away and she finds comfort in a rather charming young boy. AU in which Snow and Charming have met before when they were children.


**AN: **Got this idea from seeing the new pics of young Snow with her mother. Just combine those with my crazy love of Snowing, and voila! You get this! Sorry if the ending seems kind rushed or whatever. Couldn't really figure out how to end it.  
All mistakes are my own (so let me know if you see any) and I own nothing. Otherwise Belle would remember Rumple, everyone would go by their fairytale names, and the Charming family would be happier for longer than 30 seconds.

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She could no longer hold it together. Five days had passed since her mother's death and her emotions were threatening to cut loose. The funeral was a few days before and people from all over the kingdom came to pay their respects for Queen Eva. Behaving like the proper princess her mother taught her to be, young Snow White held in her tears around the guests.

The nobles had left the day before and the kingdom was already moving past the unfortunate death of their queen. But for Snow the loss of her mother was still raw. Shutting herself in her quarters so as not to be seen by her father, the young princess spent the days crying well into the night until exhaustion overtook her body

Unfortunately for Snow, her governess felt that the time for mourning had passed and was urgent to continue her lessons. The King agreed as well, forcing Snow to leave her room and continue on with life. In order to persuade his daughter, he claimed it was what her mother would want. For a few days, Snow went along with her father's advice but not with the same excitement she usually held.

Finally one night the ebony-haired princess could no longer ignore the pain she still felt for her mother. Dressing in simple dress with a cloak wrapped around her, she snuck out of the castle and into the surrounding forest. Running through the trees with only the moon to light the path, Snow pushed herself farther and farther away from the castle, hoping to push away the her pain.

Tripping over a hidden root, she collapsed to the ground with a cry, curling against a tree trunk behind her. Wrapping the cloak tighter to her, Snow cried loudly into her hands ignoring the forest around her.

* * *

It was another clear morning on the farm; David was up bright and early as usual to begin his work for the day. Looking over his family's flock of sheep, he noticed one missing. Surveying the field around him, he noticed the young lamb by the tree line a few yards away. Sighing, the young boy jogged towards the animal praying he wouldn't scare it off.

David slowly approached the lamb from behind hoping he would be able to make a quick grab for it, but a sudden cry from within the forest scared the creature away towards the rest of the flock. Swearing quietly the young shepherd made to turn back when he heard the cry again. Curious, he cautiously walked through the trees following the sound. He came up short when he could hear the soft sniffling from behind a large tree.

"Hello?" he asked quietly not wanting to frighten whoever was there. When the only response was the continuous sound of crying David slowly made his way around the tree. To his surprise a young girl sat on the other side of the tree wrapped in a cream-colored cloak, her arms covered in scratches and dirt.

"Are you alright, miss?"

* * *

Snow didn't know how long she had been sitting on the ground, but when she lifted her head the forest around her was bathed in a quiet glow of the morning sun. Rubbing her face to dry the remains of her tears, she was reminded of why she was seated on the ground in the first place. A new round of fresh tears hit her, causing the young princess to once again bury her face in her hands.

Unaware of her surroundings she didn't notice the young boy standing in front of her until he spoke.

"Are you alright, miss?" Once again lifting her head, her gaze landed on a young boy that appeared to be her young age. His bright blue eyes held nothing but concern but his posture suggested he was wary of the young girl that sat before him.

Snow jumped in surprise at the closeness of the stranger.

"Oh I'm sorry!" the boy exclaimed taking a step back. "I didn't mean to frighten you. I just heard crying and wanted to make sure everything was alright." He took another look at the girl and took a step closer. "Are you alright?" he asked again.

Distracted by the boy's appearance, Snow visibly shook herself in order to snap out of staring.

"I've been better," she replied quietly trying to rub the tears off her face. Pushing herself away from the tree, Snow was surprised when the stranger reached out to help her off the ground.

"Thank you," the princess responded shyly, her nerves once again getting the better of her. To her surprise the young boy turned red before stammering out a response. They stood in an awkward silence for a moment, neither knowing what to do or say next.

Snow remembered her mother telling her countless times that to be proper lady she must always keep conversations going, but she couldn't for the life of herself think of anything to say…

At the thought of her mother, the young girl's eyes once again filled with tears. She turned away from the blonde-haired boy, hoping he wouldn't notice.

David was surprised when the girl started to cry. Not knowing what else to do, he hesitantly turned her back to face him and gave the young girl a hug. Snow pulled away, surprise covering her face.

"What was that for?" she asked defensively, crossing her arms across her chest. "Hasn't anyone told you to keep your hands to yourself?" Taking a few steps away from him, she once again leaned against a tree.

"Yes," David said slowly, "but you were crying and looked in desperate need of a hug. It's what my mother does to comfort me, so I just thought it would help you…" At the mention of his mother, he noticed the girl's face crumble again. "I'm David by the way," he quickly adds in, hoping to distract the girl from whatever was upsetting her.

Taking a deep breath, Snow was about to introduce herself before she stopped. She couldn't tell him her name! What if he recognized her name? She enjoyed being treated like a regular person and what if he turned out to be from a bad family? As she internally fought with herself, she could see David staring at her intently, probably wondering why she was taking so long to respond.

"I'm…my name is…Mary." Snow said quickly, looking at anything but him.

"It's nice to meet you, Mary." Snow finally looked at him and he smiled back at her. "Now, would you like to tell me what it is that has got you so upset?" Noticing her hesitation, he adds in "I promise I won't tell anyone. Well maybe some of my sheep, but they're really good at keeping secrets." When she softly laughs, he smiled back in response.

"It's just…" Snow started, hoping that telling him won't come back to bite her. "My mother passed away a few days ago. I'm not ready to move on yet, but my father wants everything to go back to how it was. I ran away last night and somehow ended up here."

"I'm sorry for your loss, Mary." He carefully grabs her hand and squeezes. "I lost my father a few months back and it still hurts for me."

"Oh, David, I'm so sorry!" Snow placed her other hand atop of his and grips it tightly.

"I guess it just shows that the healing process takes longer for some people. But that doesn't mean you should run away when life gets too hard. Your father is probably worried sick about you! I know my own mother would skin me if I ran away in the middle of the night!" David watched as the ebony-haired girl digests what he just stated.

As realization of what she had done overcomes her, Snow's eyes grew wide and she stares open-mouthed at David. "My father is going to be so upset when he finds out! I can't believe I did this! Could you help me figure out which way is east? I must get home right away before he sends someone searching for me."

"Yeah, sure, east is that way," he pointed directly over her head. Snow turned around to look in the direction he was pointing. And then before she can realize what she was doing, the princess turned back to the boy and threw her arms around him.

"Thank you so much, David! For comforting me and helping me get back home! It means so much that you would care for someone you've never met before. There should be more people like you in this world." And with that, she ran back towards her home not once looking back.

David only stared after the girl in shock at what she told him. Its then he promised himself that he would find that dark haired girl again one day. Find her and never let go.

_Fin_

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Threw in a few show tidbits in there. Can you find them? Oh, and reviews are always nice too! :)


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